


Heart and Home

by darktensh17



Series: Home is Where the Heart Is [2]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drinking, Fluff, M/M, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-28
Updated: 2015-12-28
Packaged: 2018-05-09 20:54:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5555000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darktensh17/pseuds/darktensh17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At first Fenris hated Anders, until slowly, over time he didn't anymore. Fenders. Semi-prequel to Home is Where the Heart Is</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heart and Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Chiwibel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chiwibel/gifts).



> Fenders Family Secret Santa gift for tumblr user serah-pounce-a-bell.

“Hawke, when I figure out how you convinced me to attend a welcome back party for someone I despise, I am going to kill you,” Fenris ground out, fists clenched around his third unnamed alcoholic drink of the night as they waited for the guest of honour to arrive at the party.

Garrett Hawke had the nerve to laugh and clap him on the back, nearly knocking Fenris over. “You’re here because you’re bored being at home all alone. It’s Saturday night, which is usually card night, and since everyone is here, that means you are too.” 

The fact that Hawke was correct in his observations didn’t make Fenris any less inclined to throttle him. In fact it increased the likelihood of it happening. Since he had no desire to be arrested for assault or murder, Fenris settled on a sullen “I hate you,” to get his point across. It did nothing to dampen Hawke’s amusement.

“Sure you do, Fenris.” Hawke’s attention slid from Fenris to the watch on his wrist as he checked the time. “I shouldn’t be surprised Anders is late, he was never on time for anything in school. I bet he’d be late to his own funeral.” 

“Relax Hawke,” Varric Tethras said as he joined Fenris and Hawke. “Blondie is on his way, he had to stop at home and drop his cat off. He should be here soon.”

Fenris watched Hawke roll his eyes and laugh. “I should have guessed Pounce was the reason he’s late. That man loves his cat more than he loves me.”

“I cannot say I blame him given how insufferable you can be,” Fenris murmured into his cup as he took a long drink. Isabela had been supplying him with drinks since he had entered the house. She claimed she was practicing new drinks to try at the club she worked at, and given Fenris’ experience with wine she had decided he was the best judge. Out of the three he’d drunk already, Fenris was enjoying this one the best, it was fruity with a hint of vodka and what tasted like creme de banana. He would have to let her know before the night was up and he tried to wipe the memory of seeing Anders out of his mind. 

“Everyone get ready!” Hawke’s sister Bethany, who had been assigned to ‘Anders watch,’ commanded. “He’s just pulling in now.” 

There was rustling as everyone got ready, making themselves presentable, and preparing for the door’s opening. When it did, Anders was greeted with an enthusiastic chorus of ‘Welcome home’ by all those gathered, Fenris excluded. 

Anders for his part stepped back in surprise, clutching a hand to his chest. “Hawke! You said this was supposed to be a small welcome home with only your family, you didn’t say that you were going to invite every member of the old gang.” The words were accusing but the expression on Anders’ face was one of barely suppressed delight as his eyes swept over all those gathered before him; widening slightly at the sight of Fenris.

As their eyes met, Fenris found the old hatred he’d had for this man hard to dredge up as he wondered if Anders’ eyes had always been such a warm shade of honey.

Later he would blame the thought on Isabela and her concoctions, which he proceeded to down with increasing intensity the rest of the night.

-

From that night on Fenris would occasionally see Anders out and about, or at gatherings with their common friends. The two of them were not friends, but the enmity they’d had in college had faded away over the years. It was hard to hate someone when they had been absent from your life for five years. 

Fenris was secretly thankful that the one gathering that Anders very rarely attended was card night. He wasn’t sure that he could deal with Anders in such tight quarters, especially when he was drinking. So long as the two of them remained at a distance, Fenris was certain they could remain casual acquaintances. After all it was Hawke trying to get them to get along that had lead to them hating each other so much in the first place. 

What Fenris conveniently forgot was just how stubborn Garrett Hawke could be when it came to his circle of friends and having everyone get along. When Fenris showed up two months after Anders' return, with several bottles of his more successful wine from his vineyard, he should not have been surprised to see the man seated at the table in Hawke’s house. He looked content and comfortable seated between Hawke and Isabela, who appeared to be teasing him mercilessly about some topic or another. 

“Fenris! You’re almost late! Did you take the bus again? I told you that any one of us is more than willing to pick you up,” Hawke called to him as he entered the kitchen. “Why you’re so stubborn about it I’ll ever know.”

“I do not wish to be a burden or cause anyone trouble Hawke,” Fenris replied patiently, ignoring his friend’s comments as he set the wine on the counter and opened one of the bottles. The sweet smell that accompanied this brought a smile to his face, this year's batch had come out well. “My home is in the country and out of the way for everyone.” 

Hawke sighed and Fenris could hear him shaking his head. “I’ve told you time and time again that it’s not trouble. No one would find it troublesome.” His comment was followed by exclamations of agreement from most of those gathered around the table.

“Aveline and I are always more than happy to come and get you, Fenris,” Donnic informed him from Fenris’ right as he pulled wine glasses out of the cupboard for everyone. “And it’s no trouble at all, no matter how much you insist it is.” Aveline nodded her agreement from her seat on Isabela’s other side. 

Fenris shook his head, his own stubbornness raining through; he would not become a burden on all his friends. “I enjoy the time that taking the bus offers me to think.” 

To change the topic to one Fenris was more comfortable with, Fenris began to pour wine for everyone. “I brought some of my newest creation tonight, a blush wine. I added the black berries that I found growing in the back field. It’s a semi-sweet fruity wine, and I’m quite proud of it.” It took two of the four bottles he’d brought to fill everyone’s cups, but that was alright. The wine was more of a dessert wine than a drinking wine. 

Anders looked up at him in surprise as Fenris filled his glass. “Didn’t you go to school for journalism?”

“I still pursue my career in that field, but I also invested in some wine making classes and bought myself a small vineyard. Wine has been something I have had a passion for, for many years.” Fenris didn’t feel that he needed to explain his reasoning to Anders, but something in him inflated at the other man’s words. Perhaps he wasn’t as well off as a doctor, but he made a decent living and enjoyed what he did.

Isabela leaned over to look at Anders, “Fenris’ wines are sold in some of the liquor stores around town, and grocery stores. They get good reviews.” She said the words with pride, which had Fenris flushing lightly; it was a guilty pleasure for him to receive such praise. Finished with the wine he returned the bottle to the counter, putting the others into the refrigerator. He took his usual seat between Aveline and Sebastian, who sat next to Varric, with Donnic and Merrill sitting between Hawke and the dwarf.

“This is truly excellent, Fenris,” Sebastian praised, sipping the wine, “A fine vintage indeed.” 

Everyone seemed to be in agreement, with Hawke boisterously praising the wine. 

“It really is good, Fenris, some of the best I’ve tasted.” The unexpected comment came from Anders, which surprised Fenris. Not at all certain how to reply, he offered the man a quiet thanks and focused on the cards that were dealt out by Donnic. Varric and Isabela were banned from dealing on account of them cheating any time they did.

Several hands of cards proceeded calmly with the group chatting about nonsensical things. There were comments about Anders' improvement in cards since they’d all been in college, and Fenris vaguely recalled that he had been an abysmal card player then. 

Laughing, Anders took a sip of his wine, the only one still drinking Fenris’ wine while the others, including Fenris himself, had moved on to stiffer drinks. “You can’t be part of the Grey Wardens without learning a trick or two.”

“Is Zevran still tailing after Mahariel out in the wilds of Central Africa along with the rest of that rag-tag doctor group?” Isabela quipped, glancing slyly over at Anders. “I know he specialized in a number of one year courses that he thought would be helpful in order to justify Mahariel taking him with him when he joined Doctor’s Without Borders.”

“If they’re not married in the next five years I promised Mahariel I’d go find him and drag the two of them in front of the first priest, shaman, tribal leader, or whoever that I could.” 

That brought a round of laughter to those of the group who knew the two men. Even Fenris found himself chuckling, recalling the two elves from around the campus.

Eventually they changed games and Fenris found himself partnered with Anders, and uncertain how he felt about the development. He wasn’t going to stop it from letting him win though, and by the end of the game he was surprised that not only did they win but that he enjoyed having Anders as a partner. 

“We should play together again.” The words were amiable as Fenris fetched himself another drink and Anders poured himself more wine. “We make a good team.”

Anders grinned at him. “We really do. Who would have thought that all those years ago? We could barely be in the same room as each other.”

Fenris nodded, “It seems we have both done some growing up during that time.” 

“We really did.” 

Neither of them saw the knowing glances their group of friends shared behind their backs as they spoke.

-

“You would think someone as boisterous and easy going as Garrett Hawke would be easy to get a Christmas gift for,” Anders grumbled, rubbing his hands together as he and Fenris braved the crowded street of the city so that Anders could find Garrett a gift. 

Fenris snickered at the comment. “What do you get the man who has practically everything?” Hawke was from a wealthy family but never let it go to his head. That didn’t stop it from being difficult to buy any sort of gift for him, though. “Getting Isabela for Secret Santa was a stroke of luck for me.”

The face Anders made pulled a genuine laugh from Fenris. “It doesn’t count if all you got her was booze, elf.”

“Why mess with a good thing?” Grinning, Fenris peered into one of the nearby windows to look at the items. “I can assure you that the main part of her gift is not alcoholic beverages.”

“A bunch of daggers doesn’t count either,” the other man groused, joining Fenris at the window. “Man, what am I going to do for him? Garrett Hawke, I curse you and your hoarding tendencies.”

Anders' comment caused a metaphorical light bulb to appear over Fenris’ head. “I know what you can get Hawke.” Grabbing Anders' arm, he tugged him toward one of the various stores that lined the busy downtown core. 

-

Over the years it had become tradition for the gang to gather at Hawke’s place for Secret Santa Gift exchanges and a large dinner, followed by a night of drunken merriment. 

“Oh. My. God. Fenris!” Isabela cried as she opened her gift from him, pulling out the customized wine bottles he’d made her. 

Fenris felt the tips of his ears go red, as he elaborated on his gift. “I tried to make a flavour based on your personality; smooth, a little bit of spice, and strong enough to knock anyone’s panties off.” 

Isabela chortled at that, clasping the two bottles of wine to her chest. “This is awesome! Oh and you got me panties! Each one with a different type of booze on them. How cheeky!” Putting the gifts back in the box they’d come in, and reaching over poor Merrill who was sitting on the ground at her feet, Isabela pulled Fenris into a deep hug before he could get away from her. 

“You’re most welcome, Isabela.” Fenris assured her, patting her back before retreating to his seat in a large plush chair on the other side of the room.

Anders stood up next. “It’s my turn to give my gift, and I got Hawke.” Grabbing his gift with some trouble, Anders carried it over to the dark haired man and plopped it down on his lap. “I hope you enjoy.”

Hawke’s eyebrows disappeared under the goofy Santa hat he was wearing as he ripped open the wrapping paper to reveal a medium sized wooden chest, complete with iron work corners. “This is awesome, Anders! I can put all sorts of stuff in it!” Opening it up sent several pairs of torn trousers at Hawke. “What the. . .are these my pants?!”

“Junk for your junk chest, Garrett!” Anders laughed, looking over and sharing a grin with Fenris; the two of them had worked together to keep Hawke away long enough to clear out all his ripped pants and store them in the chest.

“Ha. Ha. Ha.” Hawke grumbled as he stuffed the pants back in the chest. Despite this he was grinning along with the others who were laughing or snickering at the joke. “I get it, I get it. It’s time to throw some of the useless stuff I keep away. It is a pretty awesome chest, though. Thank you, Anders.”

Anders nodded his head Fenris’ way, offering the elf a bright smile. “You’re welcome, though Fenris was the one who gave me the idea.” 

Hawke’s eyebrows couldn’t disappear any further than they already were, but they were giving it a good try. Fenris wondered why Hawke was so surprised, he and Anders had been getting along quite well since Anders' return. “Well, thank you both.” 

-

Fenris opened his eyes with a groan, not remembering how much wine he’d drunk last night, or how late he had gotten to bed. Aside from the headache there was a dull ache in his lower back, one that didn’t seem to want to go away no matter which way he shifted to ease it. 

Sighing in irritation he turned over to see if lying on his side would offer him some sort of relief. He was surprised when his eyes met worried honey brown ones. 

His startled mind took a moment to process what he was seeing. “Hi.” 

Relief flooded Anders' face and he grinned shyly at Fenris. “Hi. How are you feeling?” 

Now that he wasn’t half lame with sleep, Fenris found himself smiling back at the blonde. “A little sore, it’s been awhile I must admit.” 

“Yeah, for me too.” Anders admitted, shifting in the bed to hesitantly wrap an arm around Fenris’ waist and pull him closer. Fenris soon found himself purring in delight as Anders rubbed circles over where the worst of the ache was. “I’ll give you a proper massage later if you’d like. I’ve got some oils at my place.” 

Considering how much he had once loathed the man who was now holding him in his arms, it didn’t take Fenris all that long to nod and burrow against Anders chest. “I’d like that.” 

Yawning, he decided that he wasn’t ready to face the day or any of their friends yet. He was much too comfortable lying here in Anders' arms. Let Hawke and the others gossip about their absence, Fenris didn’t care and he was pretty sure Anders didn’t either.


End file.
